When running a successful grocery store, inventory management is vital.
Gone are the days of manual inventory management. With today’s modern consumer in mind, inventory management is a different ball game. It’s more than a storefront – you now have multiple channels to integrate and track.
You need to ensure you have enough stock of the right items to keep your customers happy, but you also don’t want to be stuck with too much or too little of any products. That’s why many store owners are turning to inventory management software to help them get a grip on their stock levels.
But with so many options available, how do you know which one is right for you? Here are some things to look for when choosing software for your business.
Grocery Store Inventory Management Software
Simply put, inventory management software lets you know what’s happening with your stock at any time. It’s crucial to the daily operations of your store, and you need a reliable and customizable solution for your needs.
Finding the right software isn’t easy. You’ll want software that’s feature-rich, but not too complicated for your staff to learn. There must be an onboarding process and support from your vendor, and it’s critical to work with a vendor that doesn’t see you as just another number.
Using old manual inventory and excel spreadsheet methods is time-consuming and requires a lot of manual effort. You’ll also need to reorder items and ensure inventory is well-stocked. POS software is more efficient and helps your store grow. Let’s look at why.
The Benefits Of Using Inventory Management Software In Grocery Stores
Counting stock at the end of the day is no longer efficient. You’re worn out from a hard day’s work, and the last thing you want to do is manually check inventory. With inventory management software linked to your point of sale, you can access real-time, accurate information about your inventory.
You’ll prevent shrinkage and out-of-stock struggles, and with some modern grocery POS systems, set reorder thresholds and automatically purchase items when you run low. For example, inventory software helps your business overcome and prepare for low stock with alerts and automatic quantity updates.
Another benefit of clear visibility of stock movement is limiting under or overstocking and ensuring you never have too much or too little inventory to move.
To overcome warehouse issues and inefficient inventory management, use POS software to see clear metrics and reports, such as inventory turnover and customer satisfaction. With robust inventory management, you know which products you need to stock more of and which products are taking up shelf space. Use centralized data to monitor seasonal trends, find patterns, and order appropriately.
You can make better decisions and net a higher income for your store with one eye on detailed inventory and tracking reports.
Grocery stores stock thousands of products, and modern POS systems should support an unlimited number of products and keep track of things like:
- UPC
- Vendor number
- Department
- Category
- Cost of the item
- The price you’re selling the item for
It makes inventory more efficient, and that data informs your employees of stock levels and makes processing transactions easier for cashiers.
Finally, manage your vendors. You don’t need to track all of your purchase orders and vendor contacts separately. With the right POS solution, you can collect all that information in one place.
Factors To Consider When Selecting Inventory Management Software
Not all inventory management software is the same. Some solutions suit convenience stores; some are better for large supermarkets. What do you need your software to do? Modern POS solutions consider your most pressing needs and create a solution that helps you grow.
Look for ease of use. Plug-and-play software is ideal. How easy is your solution to set up? Is there an onboarding process and support from your vendor?
Does it offer multi-store management? If you decide to open another store, you need scalable and customizable POS software that grows with your business and lets you manage inventory in real-time across multiple locations.
Do you want cloud-based or traditional POS software? Cloud-based software is accessible from anywhere with an internet connection. But what if you lose your internet connection? A hybrid solution gives you the best of both worlds – cloud capabilities with the peace of mind that your system will function just as well when the internet is down.
Features To Look Out For When Selecting Inventory Management Software
Does the software support an unlimited database of items? And can you upload them in bulk? You don’t want to worry about how many items you can stock and keep track of.
Look for software that offers automated inventory management. With reorder thresholds and automatic purchase orders, you free up your staff to focus on customer service instead of manually counting products and having to explain why items are out of stock.
What about customizable hotkeys? For produce and other non-barcoded items, cashiers and other staff can quickly look for items without manually sorting through PLUs.
Look for label and barcode features. You should be able to generate and print labels easily if you’re in a rush. And if you like supporting local businesses and stocking their products, you can create custom labels.
Is customer loyalty built in? There are several loyalty integrations available, but with a program baked in, you can easily offer discounts and coupons to incentivize customers to come back. Some solutions give you the ability to create your own coupons.
Is there a case break feature? Selling individual items from packs, cases, and cartons can be an inventory nightmare. But with carton and case break features, you can quickly and automatically track break pack inventory, eliminating the need to update quantities manually.
Robust reporting and analytics are critical. With reports by category, like sales, inventory, customer, and employee reports, you’ll know what’s happening in every aspect of your business.
Do You Need Inventory Management Software?
The short answer is yes.
The long answer is that a modern and powerful POS system with robust inventory management baked into the same platform is more beneficial. As well as inventory management, a POS system manages your whole store from checkout to customer service to employee management.
And with integrated software, you’ll have one less platform to learn, train your employees on, and maintain. Not to mention all the features and customizations you can include.
Grocery Inventory Management Software: Now You Know What to Look For
Robust inventory management is crucial to the success of your grocery store. And inventory management integrated into your POS platform is ideal.
Now that you have a better understanding of what you should look for in inventory management software, what’s the next step? POS Nation can fully customize your solution to meet your needs, but we want to show you, not just tell you.
Schedule a demo with one of our industry experts to see it in action, or check out our Retail Point of Sale Buyers’ Guide to learn how to find the best hardware and software for your business, including the top questions to ask before buying.
